Sixty Joyless De-Britished Uncrowned Commonpoor Years (1949-2009)

Elizabeth II Vice-Regal Saint: Remembering Paul Comtois (1895–1966), Lt.-Governor of Québec
Britannic Inheritance: Britain's proud legacy. What legacy will America leave?
English Debate: Daniel Hannan revels in making mince meat of Gordon Brown
Crazy Canucks: British MP banned from Canada on national security grounds
Happy St. Patrick's: Will Ireland ever return to the Commonwealth?
Voyage Through the Commonwealth: World cruise around the faded bits of pink.
No Queen for the Green: The Green Party of Canada votes to dispense with monarchy.
"Sir Edward Kennedy": The Queen has awarded the senator an honorary Knighthood.
President Obama: Hates Britain, but is keen to meet the Queen?
The Princess Royal: Princess Anne "outstanding" in Australia.
H.M.S. Victory: In 1744, 1000 sailors went down with a cargo of gold.
Queen's Commonwealth: Britain is letting the Commonwealth die.
Justice Kirby: His support for monarchy almost lost him appointment to High Court
Royal Military Academy: Sandhurst abolishes the Apostles' Creed.
Air Marshal Alec Maisner, R.I.P. Half Polish, half German and 100% British.
Cherie Blair: Not a vain, self regarding, shallow thinking viper after all.
Harry Potter: Celebrated rich kid thinks the Royals should not be celebrated
The Royal Jelly: A new king has been coronated, and his subjects are in a merry mood
Victoria Cross: Australian TROOPER MARK DONALDSON awarded the VC
Godless Buses: Royal Navy veteran, Ron Heather, refuses to drive his bus
Labour's Class War: To expunge those with the slightest pretensions to gentility
100 Top English Novels of All Time: The Essential Fictional Library
BIG BEN: Celebrating 150 Years of the Clock Tower

Thursday 3 July 2008

A Whiff of the Grand Home Fleet

Fade Britannia? It may not be a return of the Grand Home Fleet to the briny ocean toss, but the massive 65,000-ton super-carriers, the future HMS Queen Elizabeth and the HMS Prince of Wales, promise to give Britain and its Royal Navy a highly potent platform far from home in the decades to come.

ark_royal_pompey_hrThe two new carriers will be more than three times the size of the Royal Navy's current flagship, the 20,000-ton Invincible-class light carrier, HMS Ark Royal

All in all, good news to swell loyal hearts. Mind you, this little perfidious trick by the French is politically designed to make them the property of the European Union. Can you just imagine a fully complemented French crew sailing in the Queen Elizabeth!

2 comments:

Duke of Bronte said...

By the way, I hope Prince William and his shipmates aboard the Iron Duke, helped themselves to a well-deserved dark and stormy in the wardroom last night. Wellington, to say nothing of Nelson, would be proud.

Beaverbrook said...

I remember when the Ark Royal came into Halifax harbour for a port visit, parked on the jetty adjacent to my ship. In all my salty years, I never once saw an American aircraft carrier come into Halifax, because they're too big.

The downside of carriers is that the alongside costs are too expensive, if they can fit at all, which means if you're serving in one of them, you will not see the foreign ports like you do with the frigates, destroyers and cruisers. That said, quarters are more comfortable at sea, but sea is where you will stay!